Alya had enough of it. Around every single holiday she would get the question when she would finally get a boyfriend and bring him with her to the family dinner. She had just turned 25 a month ago and for some reason that made her family ask her about a boyfriend even more often than they used to do.

All of her family married quite early, mostly in begin of their twenties, but still that isn't a valid reason to pressure her into marriage. She wanted to make career first, have a stable allowance so she could take care of herself before she would even look for a partner. She had hoped her family would have been able to understand her, but unfortunately they didn't.

And so there was no other option left to do. Now that Christmas was getting near and her family wanted to see her with a boyfriend, she decided to make a Tinder account.

'Alya Césaire.
25 years old girl in search for a fake boyfriend, to take with me to my family dinner on Christmas day. You have to be polite and kind towards them and you have to be open for more of those family meetings as there will be more coming in the future most likely.

Don't mind to send me a like or super like if your intention is to have a one night stand or a real relationship out of it. I've no such interest in that. So please don't waste my time if that's your intention.'

Alya smiled at her profile. She was happy how it looks and she hoped that it would work. However the smile disappeared soon as the only one sending likes were mostly people that wanted a one nightstand with her. As well as some asking her if they could change her mind on the no real dating thing.

She had removed all chats with those people, not wanting to put more energy in it than she already had and waited for someone to react on her profile the way she wanted.

"Nino Lahiffe had sent me a super like…" Alya mumbled to herself as she saw the notification.

She clicked on it, opening the app. On her screen appeared the profile of this Nino. He looked kind of cute but you never know maybe he was one of those people that wanted to have a one nightstand. However once she looked at his profile she let out a gasp in disbelief.

'Nino Lahiffe.
28 years old and desperate need for a fake girlfriend to celebrate the holidays with and to make lots of data like pictures with to show my family. If you're interested and happen to have brown hair, bruin eyes and glasses, swipe right.

I'm not interested in a relationship nor am I interested in one nightstands. So don't bother me with those.'

Alya couldn't believe that there was a guy out there who was in the same situation as she was. She hesitated a bit before she swiped right. In no time a message popped up.

'Oh my gosh. Thanks goodness you swiped right!'

Alya giggled by his first message. He definitely was really looking for a fake girlfriend.

'Well hello there, it seems like we are on the same boat.

'Apparently we are. Seriously it's crazy you are exactly how I described my "girlfriend's" looks to my family and need a fake boyfriend for a family dinner while I told my parents that I would celebrate it at my "girlfriend's" house… I thought I could escape it like that. Turns out my mom demanded pictures…'

'It still hadn't sink in with me either. But I assume you lied to your parents?'

'Yeah… I thought that would make them shut up… but it kind of made things worse… You see, they keep bothering me with questions when I would get a girlfriend and get married already… they told me I should hurry up, because I will be turning 30 in two years… They even went as far as setting up blind dates… So after date 3 they asked why I didn't give any of those dates a chance. So I came up with the lie that I already was seeing someone… I told them that she had brown hair, brown eyes and glasses. But they didn't thought it was enough, they wanted to see pictures so I promised then I would show them someday… so I hope you're up for making quite some date like pictures and such.'

'I don't mind it at all, I'm willing to make our "relationship" as believable as possible. It will benefit the both of us after all. My family is in the vase of bothering me when I will bring home a boyfriend. Everyone got married in the begin of their twenties, so being 25 and not married yet is weird for them… anyways, when was it when you said you were already seeing someone?'

'Somewhere at the beginning of July.'

'I'm quite impressed that you were able to avoid your parents that long with your promise to show them pictures.'

'I was able to avoid them mostly because of the fact I live on my own, but they do keep calling me every now and then to ask me when I will be showing them pictures and ask me to tell them more about the dates I went on.'

'I see… anyway we should start thinking of a story of how we met and such. We better not drop Tinder in the story. My parents are quite traditional and really are against meeting people from the internet.'

'I understand. It also wouldn't fit in my story I told my parents since I told them I met my "girlfriend" when I was getting some new headphones in the city and helped her out when she got lost.'

'I guess it's a good idea that you start with telling me what you've told your parents. We will build up the story from there.'

'Okay. One sec, let me get my note book first.'

'You've got a notebook?'

'Don't judge… I lied a lot okay… if I didn't write it down then I would have forgotten it…'

'Okay, I won't just let's get started with operations fake dating!'

She talked with the guy for hours, reacting to all the lies he had told his parents and adding more lies to their story. Nino told her that they have been on twenty dates doing different kind of activities, from shopping dates to visiting a zoo, to picnics and bungee jumping.

'Okay, with all those dates we should meet up as soon as possible so we can make evidence of our "dates". I don't have anything the rest of the week so I can meet up tomorrow.'

'That's great. I don't have much to do this week too. However I won't be available most of Friday afternoon and the whole evening, I have to DJ at a Christmas Party.'

'That's alright.'

'So for tomorrow. How about a coffee date at this adorable cafe near the Eiffel Tower at 10 in the morning and then go on some of those dates that are on the list?'

'Sounds good.'

'Also don't forget to take different outfits with you. It would be weird if we wore the same outfit all the time.'

'Good thinking. I would love to chat more but I got to go. See you tomorrow "Darling."'

"See you tomorrow "Babe".

And just like that the following days they met up and played out those dates. Alya thought it would be pretty awkward to meet up with a stranger and pretend to be dating, but once they met it felt very natural like they were really dating. Alya was glad about the comfortableness since it really made the pictures look real.

She had a lot of fun too those days, however it did tire her out as well. It were a lot of activities that they did on one day. So once she got how she would just plop down on the couch and chat with Nino, this time on WhatsApp as they had changed out their numbers at their "first date"

Because of all those "dates" the days flew by. Before she even knew it Nino was standing in front of her door to pick her up. They sang along with the Christmas song 'Baby its cold outside' as they drove to her parents' house. There she introduced Nino to her family and they welcomed him into the family with an open heart. However they were a bit disappointed she hadn't told them sooner. She played it off easily, as she told them she was a bit hesitant as she didn't really knew how she felt for him and that it just got official a few days ago.

"So how did you met?" her mother asked Nino before taking a sip of her wine.
"I was at the city to buy some headphones when I came across your daughter, she was lost and I helped her out. I really thought she was attractive and she was very kind as she thanked me, so I decided to ask her out for a coffee. She agreed and then we had a coffee at some cute cafe near the Eiffel tower."

Alya smiled as Nino told her parents their made up story. Of course the whole talk at the dinner table was their relationship.

"After the date more followed." Alya joined in. "And after the twentieth date I realized I actually like him quite a lot."

Her parents awed at her words. They really thought it was cute. Alya was happy they seemed to believe it all, but then again they did put a lot of effort in it to make it believable.

The rest of the dinner went well too. Her parents mostly ask them to tell them more about their dates. She was happy Nino already had that worked out in his notebook, so they didn't have to come up with the stories. They were able to tell about each date with lots of excitement, both adding things to the story whenever someone missed something.

Nino also made lots of pictures and sent a few of those to his parents after dinner. His mother called him right away, saying she thinks Alya is a beautiful girl and that she wanted to meet her as soon as possible. His mother also wanted to speak to Alya, which Alya did for like twenty minutes before his mother wanted to speak with his son again. Only to tell him that Alya was a keeper.

The rest of the night was pretty nice too. They played a card game while drinking wine as the twins were already to bed. Both were joking around, saying things such as 'I thought you loved me.' as the other had beat them in a game.

The card games went on until it was around midnight, and they had to leave. They had said their goodbyes to her parents before they went out the house. It was an amazing night, which Alya wouldn't mind to repeat more often.

"I sure had a great time. You're parents are cool." Nino said as he walked her to her front door.
"I had a great time too." She said and smiled. "I'm glad it worked out and that our parents seem to like the partners of their kids."
"Yeah, I'm glad about that too. Really my mom already adores you and that while she has only seen your picture and spoke to you for twenty minutes."

Alya giggled about that.

"It's a good thing she likes me since we will continue with this for some more time." Alya said with a smile.
"Yeah, we will. Anyways, what time should I pick you up to go to my parents?"
"Is one in the afternoon alright?"
"That's fine, I'll see you tomorrow then." Nino said as he smiled back at her.
"See you tomorrow."

They stayed awkwardly on their place not knowing what to do for a while before both turned around and went their own way, Nino going back to his own house and Alya going inside her apartment. It was a bit strange to pretend their relationship, but they probably would get used to it soon as they will be going on "dates" in the future.